What is Level 5 Anyway?

One of the first business books I read when I started my search for how to manage a business in a sustainable and powerful ways was Good to Great by Jim Collins. The “Twin Study” framework appealed to my logical brain, and the collection of simple principles made tremendous sense. The principle that had the most long term resonance for me was the concept of a Level 5 leader. For those of you who are not familiar with the idea I will summarize it in my next blog post, and I will throw a link at the bottom of this one you can follow to that post.

I have always believed that Jim Collins drew inspiration at least subconsciously, if not consciously from the parallel five levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. The fifth level of that hierarchy is Self-Actualization which encompasses things like morality, acceptance, purpose, and creativity. It is described as “becoming everything one is capable of becoming” and according to Maslow’s theory is only possible when all the previous levels of needs are met.

I began to think that surely organizations go through a similar hierarchy of evolution like leaders and individuals. Evolving through bare subsistence and a need for safety to their own “everything they are capable of becoming”.

Unfortunately just as some individuals never evolve past safety or intimacy needs, I also realized that many companies, leaders, and team members are stuck at those earlier levels and without outside help many of them can stay stuck in that level for their “life”, or worse yet fall backwards.

It is the mission of Level 5 Coaching Group to help our clients reach the highest levels of their potential, to “become everything they are capable of becoming”. We all deserve to reach that pinnacle, and with help anyone can if they are open and committed to the journey. That place is not the same for each person, or organization. It is not my place to hand you a blueprint. As a coach I help you to discover your own version of Level 5, and then to reach it. In a future post we will talk more about the difference between a coach and a consultant or other professional.

If you would like to learn more about how we see Level 5 expressed in different areas such as leaders, organizations, and team members follow the links below: